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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Flowering lilies by the sea at Maishima Island

In the late afternoon glow

A very large plot of land about 50,000 meter-square on Maishima Island is covered by about two million lilies from early-June to early-July. Since it is hot and humid on a sunny day during the rainy season, I entered the lily garden around 5 p.m. and stayed till 7 p.m. Because of the location, right beside the sea, sea breeze was comfortable. What I saw was shimmering indigo-blue sea, clear blue sky, and lilies of various colors and species.

Konohana Bridge

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At around 7:00 p.m., the sun was setting behind the mountains across the bay but big container ships were still busily passing by. Incidantally today's sunset time is 7:13 in Osaka.

Maishima is a man-made island located in Osaka Bay. It was included in the candidate sites when Osaka had aimed to bid for Olympics but at that time I didn't know what it was like except for two things: one is the huge waste treatment plant with unique architectural appearance which looks like the work of Dali, and the other is as a site for Summer Sonic, one of the best rock festivals in Japan, which is held in Maishima every summer along with Makuhari. On my first visit to the island I learned about the wide range of opportunities of sporting such as tennis courts, football stadium (base for Cerezo Osaka), baseball stadisum, indoor athletic field, spacious open dog-runs, racing circuits, barbecue garden, and so on. I understood why it was called Maishima Sports Island in English.

32 comments:

This is absolutely amazing and what incredible images. We can scarcely believe what we are looking at. The lilies are truly magnificent, but so also is the situation with those wonderful sea views. How we wish that we could board an aeroplane today to see all of this for ourselves. Thank you so much for such an inspirational post.

Dear Yoko -Thank you for your visit today, it was lovely to hear from you again.The bible quote "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow" is spectacularly brought to life on your wonderful images.I have never seen so many lilies growing en masse before, and to see them against the backdrop of Osaka Bay is something that will stick in my memory.

Nice to see you back, Stardust! A field full of lilies would be an unusual sight in my part of the world, especially by the seaside. I particularly enjoyed the eye-level perspective where the flowers seem to decorate the beach. It is almost as if I could ruffle my hand through those lovely petals!

What a beautiful sight. My brother always grows a few pots of lilies for my mother's garden each year; they will both love to see these photos. I hope that they remain forever - the world can get by without any more sports stadiums!

Hi Yoko,great to see you are back "on the blog stage" - especially if one is aware of what happened to you and your family within the last months! But as a positively thinking person I appreaciate your decision not to hide and isolate because of your pain, but to come back to your community. I hope that the communication with your blog fellows around the world will help you to find back to pleasure and confidence. In my training room of the company I work for a calender from a Japanese tool manufacturer is hanging on the wall. The July calender sheet displays......exactly the same flowering lilies you show us on your post! Next week I'm going to take a photo of the calender sheet and will send it to your address... ;-)Thanks a lot for your kind comments - all the best for you and your family,Uwe.

Your posts always make me dream.... This is a really stunning place! Those flowers are wonderful! As always I loooove the pics. I have a giveaway on my blog to celebrate my 500 followers if you like to participate have a look on: http://lovecraft2012.blogspot.pt/2014/07/500-seguidores-oferta-500-folowers.htmlHave a fabulous day!Hugs from Portugal, Ana Love Craftwww.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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Sri Gita Govinda-A book written in the 12th century, this is a description of the intimate loving affairs of Radha and Krishnahttp://www.mediafire.com/view/keqr4lqp7wr1rru/Sri_Gita_Govinda.pdf

Govinda Lilamrta-An 400 year old book which poetically describes the eternal daily pastimes of Radha and Krishnahttp://www.mediafire.com/view/uhcuigauc6uqiei/Govinda_Lilamrita.pdf

Ananda Vrindavan Campu-This is probably the most poetic and intimate portrayal of Sri Krsna’s life in Vrndavana that has ever been written.http://www.mediafire.com/view/k9j3ldwbt17be3b/Ananda_Vmdavana_Campu.pdf

Prayers of Service to Radha and Krishna (Sankalpa Kalpadruma)http://www.mediafire.com/view/lvkqsro3sbzm249/Visvanath_Cakravarti_Thakur_Sankalpa_Kalpadruma.pdf

And the following four are taken from Visvanath Cakravarti's Camatkara Candrika, a 300 year old scripture that talks about the love meeting of Radha and Krishna:

The Meeting in the Boxhttp://www.mediafire.com/view/c81a7cp43n5v6aj/The_Meeting_in_the_Box.pdf

The Meeting of Sri Krishna Disguised as a Female Doctorhttp://www.mediafire.com/view/hgomrnem7829pda/The_Meeting_of_Sri_Krsna_Disguised_as_a_Female_Doctor.pdf

The Meeting of Sri Krishna Disguised as a Female Singerhttp://www.mediafire.com/view/gyuboduhn8dvdml/The_Meeting_of_Sri_Krsna_Disguised_as_a_Female_Singer.pdf

The Meeting of Sri Krishna Disguised as Abhimanyuhttp://www.mediafire.com/view/911h9qoxn4ca027/The_Meeting_of_Sri_Krsna_Disguised_As_Abhimanyu.pdf

And lastly, we have a very amazing scripture which describes the 24 hour daily loving affairs of Radha and Krishna in Vrindavan, called Bhavanasara Sangraha. This book is now available on Amazon for Kindle, for only $3.49

Here is a 41 page sample of Bhavanasara Sangraha:http://www.mediafire.com/view/t4gsse2d4sw0f8p/Sample_of_Bhavanasara_Sangraha.pdf

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Disclaimer: We are not affiliated with ISKCON in any way whatsoever. ISKCON, or "The Hare Krishna Movement" as it's popularily known, is a radical and extremist distortion of the original Radha and Krishna dharma from ancient India. The author of the above book Bhavanasara Sangraha is no longer affiliated with ISKCON either, having cut all ties to ISKCON a few years ago.

Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to my blog, and my world! I’m a Japanese, born and raised in Kobe, a cosmopolitan port city, and now living in Nara, the cradle of Japanese culture. I'm happy to share things and places I love with you and exchange ideas and thoughts. Thank you for stopping by and taking time.

Hakuba Village, Nagano

Oide Suspension Bridge

Lilies at Maishima Island

Winter pond reflection

Saho River, Nara

the sea of Kobe westward

Danny's Christmas tree

Outward from the Home Planet

The Earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man, has to make a man appreciate the creation of God and the love of God.
- James Irwin -

The Blue Marble via Wikimedia

from my son's wedding album

The Little Church

If you want your dream to be
Build it slow and surely.
Small beginnings, greater ends.
Heartfelt work grows purely.

If you want to live life free,
Take your time, go slowly.
Do few things, but do them well.
Simple joys are holy.

Isui-en Garden

About Me

I am a Japanese, non-native speaker of English, who likes to think about things and express them in English. I named my handle name "Stardust." I'm consisted of particles, like a stardust, drifting in space, hoping to shine with her spirit burning bright someday. Still, such particles feel and think on this planet -- what a mystery, what a wonder, what a blessing!
My icon lotus flower symbolizes "spiritual growth from the muddy darkness to the light of the sun".